The Internet has made this the age of the instant political movement. Like-minded people (and even unlike-minded people) can find one another and quickly create a kind of critical mass. The hope, often the expectation, is that these new aggregations can bring positive change to the body politic. This includes seizing new opportunities for democratizing communication and communicating democracy, both of which are urgently needed.

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Former Member, New York State Committee of the Independence Party (73rd AD - Eastside Manhattan) and Former Member, New York City Independence Party Organizations - Manhattan Executive Committee and County Committee, representing the 73rd AD.

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Tuesday, May 9, 2017

TX Non-Voters Had a Valid ID But Misunderstood the Law

A Survey was conducted in Texas earlier this year to investigate did Voters understand the States Photo ID Laws.

The Study found that virtually all eligible Non-Voters, that is people who could have but didn’t Vote, possessed a Valid Photo ID. But not many really understood the Photo ID regulations.

The survey asked our Non-Voters to listen to three statements and select which one most accurately described Texas’s Photo ID requirements for Voting in November 2016. Only one in five picked the right statement: 21% in Harris County and 18% in CD-23.

Three out of five Non-Voters in both Jurisdictions, 58% and 60%, believed wrongly that all Voters had to show a State-Approved Photo ID to Vote in Person.

That wasn’t true. In fact, people with No Photo ID could still Vote as long as they Signed an Affidavit and showed one of several supporting documents, such as a Bank Statement, Government Check, Paycheck, Utility Bill, or Voter Registration Certificate.

Overall, Latinos were significantly less likely to Understand the Rules correctly than were other groups. In both places, only 15% of Latino Non-Voters understood the Photo ID rule in contrast to 24% of Anglos and 28% of African Americans in Harris County. CD-23 doesn’t have enough African American Non-Voters for a statistically valid sample.

Latinos also were significantly more likely to say the Photo ID rules were more Restrictive than they actually were.

CLICK HERE to read the 28 page (pdf) University of Houston, Hobby School of Public Affairs Report The Texas Voter ID Law and the 2016 Election